


The Void

by HazelnutShippingCo



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Forgiveness, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Poetry, Reunions, The Void
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-19
Updated: 2016-03-19
Packaged: 2018-07-16 02:46:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7248982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HazelnutShippingCo/pseuds/HazelnutShippingCo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The reunion of Mairon and Melkor in the Void following Mairon’s defeat at the end of the 3rd Age.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Void

Weightlessness  
the first sensation to register in Mairon’s mind  
Panic  
a close second  
Pain  
a companion to which he had long grown accustomed  
noted now only by its change in form  
But worst of all  
the realization  
that this failure  
would be his last  
  
Mairon fell  
in a fall unending  
as the tower crumbled beneath him  
and all that he was shattered  
irreparably  
He fell  
through the very fabric of the World  
blinded  
sightless  
reaching out for anything  
to slow his descent  
but his desperate hands  
nonexistent  
grasped nothing  
  
He fell  
though gravity could claim him no longer  
until there was nowhere left to fall  
until there was Nothing  
  
Cold  
in its truest sense  
is absence  
Silence too  
a lack  
Mairon heard nothing  
but the rush of his own heartbeat  
yet he knew even this  
to be only a phantom -  
no heart had beat within him for millennia  
And in the Darkness  
Mairon knew  
this place that was not a place  
to which he had come at last  
and from which  
he would never escape  
  
But before another thought could form  
before another second could pass  
in the Timeless Void  
in the empty cold  
Mairon found himself surrounded by warmth  
as a familiar presence enveloped him  
Had Mairon tears  
he would have wept  
  
Joy and shame  
longing  
relief  
fear  
a myriad flooded  
through Mairon’s heart  
as Melkor alone held him  
held his tattered soul  
that seemed about to shatter  
to scatter  
in each of the endless directions  
  
“Master”  
Mairon trembled voicelessly  
“I have failed you”  
_I do not deserve this_  
_Why do you embrace me?_  
  
But Melkor only drew him closer  
Mairon ached  
with love and guilt  
_Surely, he will see_  
His sins were written plainly  
as scars  
on the crumbling edges of his soul  
where Mairon himself had torn their pattern  
in lusting desperation  
sins that never attained  
the end that might have justified them  
_He shall cast me aside_  
unfaithful  
  
And Mairon perceived then  
that Melkor knew  
and he opened himself  
to whatever punishment  
his Master saw fit to bestow  
  
But from Melkor he sensed only sorrow  
and regret  
He held Mairon gently  
carefully  
as one damaged  
and fragile  
whom he feared might break  
And as one spirit caresses another  
touching bodiless  
Melkor moved over him  
to soothe and to calm  
to forgive  
and be forgiven  
  
“It was I who departed”  
Melkor amended  
“And failed to return  
left you in need of me  
Should I punish one  
who tried all in his power  
to rescue me?  
Should I not rather praise  
and love him  
and seek to undo  
the damage that was done?”  
  
Melkor beckoned  
and Mairon fell  
willingly and gratefully  
again into his embrace  
with a sigh of relief  
and release of burdens  
and it seemed that though without lips  
they kissed  
as Melkor wordlessly offered himself -  
“Let us be once more  
as we once were…”  
  
“… and let us never be sundered again”  
Mairon concluded  
catching a breath that was not breath  
to breathe unequivocal assent  
And the warmth of love  
affection  
and desire  
burned hotter within him now  
than had all of the anger and pain  
of Ages apart  
  
Melkor encircled him  
as smoke around flame  
and Mairon sensed within him  
the need that mirrored his own  
to be joined in oneness  
inseparable  
  
Their souls touched  
gingerly at first  
with edges still sharp  
and ragged  
from the bond broken  
as they had been torn asunder  
  
But in that touch  
all pain melted away  
as the lines between them  
softened and blurred  
spirits melded  
and souls became one  
made whole again  
by the renewed bond  
that formed strong  
and enduring  
a comfort and completeness  
beyond compare  
  
And the joy of their union  
shone like a Light  
yet brighter still  
and no Darkness could mask  
nor overshadow its brilliance  
and beauty  
  
Had Mairon a voice  
he might have laughed  
at the irony of it all -  
how only by his final failure  
he had at last found  
that which he had sought to win back  
and only now  
was his heart again made full  
in this place that was called  
the Void


End file.
